Seems like I can only get to blogging during my days off. Unfortunately work has been very busy lately, and I want to try and stop getting too few hours of sleep. Finally I have a chance to catch up on my blog from the weekend as well. This weekend was incredible. The weather was great (after a week in the 90s!)
Day 20 - 5 miles Marathon Pace
Miles 5.0
Time 45.29
HR Ave/Max 168/189
Running Index 50
Wow what a day. Julian and I went out to my favorite trail today in Naperville. The Springbrook trail is a 5.5 mile loop with nice rolling hills. The trail is just far enough from the road that you don't hear the cars but you can still see them. The trail is a runners dream in a cement world. Soft dirt, bridges over creeks, slight inclines and declines, switchbacks, various wildlife and flowers. Unfortunately, it was about 91 degrees out today, and we got a late start running at 10am. I wanted to get out here by 8am, but such is life.
The run was easy, and I managed to keep my heart rate down for the entire run. 'Down' as in, I kept it within my marathon goal race pace heart rate range. I felt very satisfied after this run, and also felt like I could have gone on further. Thats a good sign. With an average pace of 8:57, that would equate to a marathon pace of 3:52. I can deal with that. As long as I am breaking 4 hours I'll be happy. That also takes into consideration that I may slow up a bit the 2nd half of the race. This gives me 8 minutes to work with AND this was my first marathon pace run of the season. I figure I can still shave 15-30 seconds off that pace during the course of my training as my cardio gets better.
Day 21 - 6 miles LSD
Miles 6.1
Time 54.19
HR Ave/Max 161/179
Running Index 56
Crazy! After yesterdays workout, I made huge gains today. I figured I'd be tired, this would be a tough run, I had just woken up. I woke up at 7:30a and got out the door by 8:15 after eating a banana and getting ready to run. The run started out kind of slow as there was a lot of wind in my face. However, I kept pushing through. I ran past 2 very good runners today. I'm hoping to make more contact with them during other Sunday runs. The pace was steady, which is also something I have been working on. My pace deviated naturally, but it wasn't all over the map like it tends to be during most long runs.
I can't believe how strong this run felt. I also found a really cool lake about 2.5 miles from the house. While the trail around the lake is only about 1/3rd of a mile total, it was nice to run by the lake for its relaxing sights and sounds.
I hope this run is telling me something. That my training is paying off and that I am getting stronger. I also hope this is a sign that I can make my goal in the half marathon in 2 weeks. I need to run a 1:51:59 or better to qualify for starting corral D of the marathon. I think its possible, but I just need to push myself the 2nd half of that race. If I can run like I did today for the first half, I should have no problems.
Until next run...
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